1 Everyone was getting ready to go out the door for the day and was sitting around the kitchen table eating buttered toast. Francis, the fat family beagle, was vacuuming up crumbs from under the table with his pink tongue.2 Dad always tried to do many things at one time. On this particular morning, he was going through a stack of mail while he ate. He was trying not to get butter on the envelopes. One letter concerned him. It was from the city. Letters from the city sometimes contained surprises. Dad tore the envelope open quickly to see what was inside.3 "We are supposed to plant a tree on the street side of the sidewalk," said Dad. "There's a list of the kinds of trees the city wants. We have to plant a tree by June 21."4 "That won't be hard," said Mom as she poured fresh orange juice into glasses. "We can go over to the nursery and get a bare root tree. Those are not as expensive. Maybe we can put the tree close to the mailbox."5 "We can't plant right away," said Dad. "We need to call that number so a technician can come and mark the location of the underground utilities. It's free."